Wire clamp or stretcher.



No. 800,745. PATENTED OCT. 3, 1905. J. M. KLEIN.

WIRE CLAMP 0R STRETCHER.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 13.1903.

if? ada? kl jm g ezr UNITED STATES PATENT FFICE.

WIRE CLAMP OR STRETCHER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 3, 1905.

Application filed July 13,1903. Serial No. 165,258.

To mil "11/71/0112, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOHN M. KLEIN, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Chicago, county of Cook. and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in ire Clamps or Stretehers, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention has relation to that class of wire clamps or stretchers commonly employed by linemen in the stringing of telegraph, telephone, or similar wires, an example of this type of clamp being illustrated in Letters Patent No. 588,446, granted to me August 17, 1897.

The object of the present invention is to provide a simple, durable, and effective construction of clamp; and to this end the invention consists in the features of improvement hereinafter described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and more particularly pointed out in the claims at the end of this specification.

Figure 1 is a view in side elevation of the wire-clamp embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a view showing the opposite side of the clamp illustrated in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a view in side elevation of a modified form of clamp. Fig. 4 is a view from the opposite side of the clamp shown in Fig. 3, certain parts in Figs. 3 and 4 being shown in section.

Referring to the construction shown more particularly in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings, A designates the rigid jaw of the clamp, and B denotes the movable jaw, these jaws serving to grip the wire to be stretched. The rigid jaw A projects laterally from and is preferably formed integral with or rigidly secured to the part C, which for convenience may be termed the body of the clamp. Through the outer portion of the rigid jaw A projects a pin 1, on which is pivotally mounted the lever D, the outer end of this lever being pivotally connected by a pin 5 with the outer end of the movable jaw B. From the inner end of the movable jaw B projects a pin I), that extends through an inclined slot 0, formed in that part of the body C that projccts opposite the inner portion of the movable jaw B. To the inner end of the lever D is pivotally connected by a pin (Z the inner end of a draw-bar E. The inner end of this bar E is preferably bent, as shown, and this bar E extends through a slot 0, formed in a projection C, that extends at one side of the body portion C. Preferably the projection C is formed with a finger-piece 0, the purpose of which will presently appear. The outer end of the bar E is preferably formed with an eye 0, to which a draft-rope or the like may be connected. From one side of the fixed jaw A extends a pin a, to which is fixed one end of a coiled plate-spring F, the free end of this spring bearing against the inner edge of the lever D near its outer end and serving to force the movable jaw B to its closed position. When a wire is to be gripped, the lineman can readily open the jaws to receive the wire by grasping the outer portion of the draw-bar E with his fingers and by drawing outward with his thumb the projection C of the body part 0. This outward movement of the projection C and parts connected thereto will cause the pin 6 to ride along the inclined slot 0 toward the operators hand and will also cause the outer end of the lever I) to swing toward the operators hand, so that the movable jaw B is separated from the fixed jaw A, but with its gripping edge maintained in parallel relation to the fixed jaw. If now a wire is inserted between the jaws and the projection C is released, the jaws will close upon the wire and the pull of the wire will cause the inner end of the lever D to swing toward jaw A and will cause the pin 5 to ride along the inclined slot 0, also toward jaw A, so that the movable jaw B will bear firmly from end to end upon the wire, with the result that a broad frictional grip is had upon the wire, which serves to firmly hold it without danger of cutting or marring its surface.

So far as I am aware this invention presents the first instance of a wire-clamp in which the movable jaw has one of its ends pivotally connected to a lever and the other of its ends secured to a guide-pin working in an inclined or cam-shaped slot, thus insuring a substantially uniform movement of the movable jaw parallel with the gripping-sun face of the fixed jaw. It will be understood, of course, that the shape of the slot 0 will be determined by the length of that part of the lever between the pivot-pins that connect the lever to the fixed and movable jaws.

In the modified form of the invention illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4: of the drawings the fixed and movable jaws are designated, respectively, as A and B, and the body part of the clamp is designated as 0 In this form of the invention the rigid jaw A is formed integral with or rigidly secured to the body part C at one side thereof, and the lever D is connected by a pivot-pin 7)" to that part of the outer end of the rigid jaw A that projects beyond the inclined outer end of the body part U. The outer end of the movable jaw B is connected to the lever l) bya pivotpin (1 and from the inner end of the movable jaw B projects a guide-pin a", that ex tends through an inclined slotc", that isformed in the body part C". The end of the lever D opposite pivot 7/ has pivotally connected thereto, as by the pin (1", the divided draw-bar E, that is preferably formedof side plates or sections united together by a transverse pin or rivet c". In this modilied form of the invention the inner end of the body part C is formed with a long slot 0 through which passes a pin that passes through the inner ends of the sections of the draw-bar E and through the ends of a loop or coupling H, to which the usual draft rope or wire may be connected. To the pin or rivetv" is fixed one end of a convolute spring F, the free end of this spring bearing against the lever D and serving to normally force the jaws toward the closed position. \Vith this construction as with that hereinbefore described it will be seen that if the lever I) be moved toward a vertical position the movable jaw B will be separated from the rigid jaw A, the outer end of the jaw B being carried by the pivotpin a" and the lever D, while the inner end of the movable jaw B is shifted in unison with the outer portion of the jaw by the riding of the pin a along the inclined or cam-shaped slot 0. iVhen a wire has been placed between the rigid and movable jaws, the spring F will cause the movable jaw to clam p the wire, and the pulling strain exerted upon the draftbar E will cause the jaws A and B to lirmly grip the wire. The inclined or cam-shaped slot will cause the pin a to force the movable jaw at its rear end to lirmly grip the wire, thus insuring a substantially uniform grip of the wire throughout the length of the jaws A and B.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A wire-clam p comprising in combination a body portion provided with a jaw rigid therewith and located at one side of the body portion, said body portion being formed with an inclined slot, a movable jaw arranged in line with said rigid jaw and opposite said slotted part of said body portion, a lever pivotally connected to said rigid jaw and extending in the plane of said body portion, a pivot-pin connecting one end of said movable jaw to said lever, a guide-pin extending from the opposite end of said movable jaw into the inclined slot of the body portion and a draft-bar connected to the inner end of said lever.

2. A wire-clamp comprisingin combination a body portion having a jaw rigid therewith and having at one side of the plane of said jaw a part provided with an inclined slot, a movable jaw arranged to shift in the plane of said rigid jaw and having one end bearing against the slotted part of said body portion, a guidepin projecting from one end of said movable jaw through the inclined slot of said body portion, a lever pivotally connected to the rigid jaw and also pivotally connected to one end of the movable jaw, said lever bearing against said movable and rigid jaws and extending in the plane of and at the end of said body portion, a draft-bar connected to the inner end of said lever and a spring engaging said lever and serving to force said movable jaw normally toward said rigid jaw.

3. A wire-clamp comprising in combination a body portion carrying at one side thereof a rigid jaw, a lever pivotally connected to said rigid jaw in front of said body portion, said lever extending in the plane of said body portion, a movable jaw arranged in the plane of and opposite said rigid jaw and bearing against a part of said body portion that is provided with an inclined slot, a guide-pin projecting from one end of said movable jaw into said slot, a pivot-pin connecting the opposite end of said movable jaw to said lever and aspring located between said lever and the end of said body portion for shifting said movable jaw to closed position.

4. A wire-clamp comprising in combination a body portion carrying a rigid jaw and provided with a projection adapted to be grasped by the user of the clamp, a lever pivotally con nected to said rigid jaw, a movable jaw provided adjacent one end with a pivot-pin connecting it to said lever and provided adjacent its opposite end with a guide-pin projecting into an inclined slot formed in said body portion and a draft-bar connected to the outer end of said lever.

JOHN M. KLEIN.

iVitnesses:

A Le ER'IA ADA MIcK', HARRY L. ULArr. 

